Thursday, 22 May 2014

Broad Match Modifier and Tools

We designed this keyword tool, Keywords Editor's Wrapper to streamline the process of tagging words with plus (+) sign and quotes for Broad Match Modifier and other match types.

You can copy and paste the output to Adwords Editor or web-based Adwords interface. It is easy to use, just double click the downloaded add-in file and the functionality will be added to your current Excel session.

You can download the Keywords Editor's Wrapper, an Excel Add-In file (file with xlam extension) here. It is free of charge for use. You may share it with your friends without changing any part of the file. It is digitally signed.

Usability Booster for AdWords optimizers is an amazing web based interface Adwords tool from Data-Inside. It is an add-on to Chrome and Firefox browsers for all match types. For Broad Match Modifier, you can only tag all words (and not specific words). Introduced by Holger Schulz at Google+.

Modified Broad Match Keyword Tool from Chad Summerhill. It is an Excel file with macro capability to manipulate the keywords. You can tag BMM to specific words in keywords phrases.

Spreadsheet and formulas (Read guides below)

Excel with automated macro program like Keywords Editor's Wrapper (KEW) from us. These are automated Excel macro that tag your keywords quickly with Broad Match Modifier or other match types. KEW is designed to load keywords to Adwords Editor smoothly.

The how-to guides found on the Internet to tag Broad Match Modifier can be generalized into two categories. The first group is on tagging BMM in Adwords Editor and the second group is on tagging BMM using Excel. Here is the list:

Excel Formulas for PPC Keyword Match Type Manipulation by George Gilmer on Nimble Candle. It explains the combination use of such Excel formulas as TRIM, CONCATENATE and SUBSTITUTE for match type manipulation. The explained method is to tag Broad Match Modifier to all words in keyword phrases.

Modified Broad Keywords Using Excel or Adwords Editor by Jarad Collier from PPC Campaign Generator. The video explores both use of Excel or Adwords Editor. The article explains the use of SUBSTITUTE formula in detail and provides the Excel formula in text file for download.

How to use AdWords broad match modifier in Excel by Maria NikiShyana from Search Marketing Wisdom. This nice little article explains the default behavior of "+" sign in Excel as part of formula (which create problem for PPC marketers who use the "+" sign as text) and the solutions for different Excel versions.

Why Broad Match Modifier matters?

Broad Match Modifier or Modified Broad Match (BMM) is an important feature of PPC advertising. It allows the advertisers to explore unknown search terms just like the use of Broad Match, yet it gives an extra control to disallow deviations from specific words.

When we start a new campaign or project, we usually have a few Ad Groups with Broad Match Modifier and Negative Keywords. We will check the "SEARCH TERMS" report to further refine our keywords list by adding negative, phrase match and exact match keywords. It is a simple but effective strategy to start a new campaign.

Here are the list of explanations from the horse mouth, i.e. Google and Microsoft's Help Page: